That's another big step. Curious how he's handling it. There's still stress during travels. It's a different stress though.

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He is crying in the corner, extremely scared, and has no Idea what he is supposed to do with out his bike, so he began drinking at 10:30am this morning (not kidding about the drinking thing, although I did join him on that adventure..)
In all seriousness he is super stoked and ready for he next chapter; although he is shitting his pants about getting back into the whole working world, but he has no choice since he is beyond broke and living in debt till he gets to NZ..
He says Saludos!!!

He is crying in the corner, extremely scared, and has no Idea what he is supposed to do with out his bike, so he began drinking at 10:30am this morning (not kidding about the drinking thing, although I did join him on that adventure..)
In all seriousness he is super stoked and ready for he next chapter; although he is shitting his pants about getting back into the whole working world, but he has no choice since he is beyond broke and living in debt till he gets to NZ..
He says Saludos!!!

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I think he was worrying a bit about that even when I was riding with him! He talked about going broke before working again.

I imagine he'll find something. I bet working abroad is more fun then working at home, because things are new and different.

Curious if you guys have thought of any "money makers" on your travels. I'd love to go a different direction in my life. Maybe want to discuss that privately. Can't let the cat out of the bag.. haha.

DAY-426-438
1/1-13/2013
Still playing the waiting game, parts made it as of the 7th but are stuck in Customs, my friends friend who works in customs is searching for them. Thats all I know...
Woke up on New Years Day to finding my shoes on the roof?? Not too sure about that one... haha another lazy day.
Been working on my list of things I want to get rid of and things I want to pick up when I pass through LA (when ever that might be Hahaha).
Trying to get a few things sorted out with my registration and also working on my Carnet for Australia.
I caught my eye on another RR and checked it out and it is Fritz RR Porkandbeans . I wrote him and we met up for a few beers and hung out talking about his plans and where I had been. I was able to meet up with him and another ADVRIDER Bear who is doing six months around SA and was able to go over maps with them pointing out my favorite riding and camping areas. Also went over different suggestions to finding places to sleep and hide the bike, police, borders, and so on. Super nice guys and hope to run into Bear down in Patagonia, dont think I will see Fritz again since he is headed toward BSAS and Brazil.
I had to make a quick run to the dentist, just for a checkup and cleaning. Which for the record I hate hate hate the dentist, but it was fine, quick, and cheap.
A few of us headed to a Gringo Bar called California to watch the Broncos and Ravens, my Couchsurfer friends a Maida, Nati, and their friends Connie and Maca joined us. Sadly that was a terrible game on Broncos and we lost, Zach and I kicked through 7 pitchers or so of some pretty good beer as well as a few Piscolas. We were sitting at the table when one of the owners came out and told me I looked like some linebacker and then asked what I was drinking. He sat down and we had a few more Piscolas with him then we went next door to his club where he had Champagne waiting for us. We danced for a few hours (if you know me you then you know I cant and dont dance) so we will call it the Two step whiskey stumble. Stumbled home around 4am and Ivan (my good friend and boss) was up hanging out with two other guest and then we watched a movie and passed out. Sunday was mellow day of lying around and working throughout the day.
Two fellow Advriders who have been keeping tabs on my adventure are doing their own ride for their honeymoon from California on 07KLRs Serafina and Aren. Good people and luckily my boss let me give them a little bit of a deal a dollar off a night. We hung out having a few beers and some rum trading stories and experience. I truly love sitting with other riders trading stories after stories, there is just something special about it to me. They headed out the next day heading south to Patagonia.

DAY 439-443
1/14/-18/2013
Going to be honest I cannot wait until my bike is ready mainly because over the past 1.5 months of working here I think I have taken 10 years of life from my liver Man do we drink here, it is insane the amount of alcohol you end up drinking while you are living and working at a hostel . Haha Does not help that my boss loves Bourbon and well I do to; so were best friends. Haha Dont get me wrong no regrets it has been an incredible time and experience.
Went out to dinner with my new friend Maca for Sushi which was very nice and saw a new area of Santiago which I had not been too. She works for a high end resort in San Pedro, like $400+ a night to stay. It was an awesome night.
Nick Soi showed up which you may remember me writing about as well as maybe know him from his blog www.roadtriprambling.tumblr.com He is doing a RTW on a DR650, I met him in Panama, then hungout and rode bikes in Colombia, Bolivia, and now Chile. He came and stayed at the hostel Ventana Sur Hostel, Side not if you are passing through Santiago shoot the owner Ivan an email, make a reservation, tell him youre on a motorcycle, and he will give you a discount as well as safe parking/ work space. Everything you need at this place, pool, kitchen, comfy beds, hot showers, good location, safe parking, place you can work and clean your bikes before you ship or ride elsewhere. He is super friendly guy and will go out of the way to help you.

SORRY FOR SLACKING OFF SO MUCH SINCE BEEN HERE.. HAHA

TOO HOT TO SIT AND WAIT FOR THE DENTIST, IVAN LYING ON THE FLOOR
YUCK
BOOOOOOOO
YES PLEASE
THANKS FOR TRADING STORIES
THEY ARE OFF
LATIN AMERICA HAS COME TO AN END FOR NICK
IVAN THE MASTER OF THE GRILL!!!
ASADO!!!!
AGREED, NUFF SAID
MEET MY DEAR FRIEND MACA... IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BEARD..... HAHAHAHA
BREAKFAST OF CAHMPIONS....????? HAHAHA WHAT i AM DRINKING SUGAR FREE REDBULL...

DAY 444-445
1/19-20/2013
DAKAR 2013 .
Nick, Zach, and I headed to the Finish line to check out the bikes coming into Santiago. We arrived a bit too early so we went to have some Pollo and Cervesas while we waited. Long story short, we waited a very long time in the sun until the bikes finally showed up but I think over all was well worth it. Did we get that close to the riders..No... Were we able to talk with a few riders yes!! Jonny Campbell (Honda Factory rider, American, Baja 1000 Legend) and Bret Cummings (badass privateer from South Africa).
Tried to go to bed early since I will be waking up early and that did not work out for me.. Hahaha
Got up a bit groggy but early enough and headed for the course. Nick and I walked around for just over 5hrs watching the guys ride by on their way to or from the Podium. There were these two guys on Kawis that really stand out, everyone was passing slowly and waving to everyone or just riding through with their heads down. These two guys come down the straight away up on one while the other is bouncing off the curbs, jumping into the grass, sliding tires, and just having a good time.. The podium was a bit disappointing thought we would be able to get close to see all of the action but that was not the case, the closest you could get was almost a full block away without a wrist bracelet. In all and all it was a lot of fun to see these guys facial expression that just shouted phew it is over and I accomplished the Dakar Rally.
Over all it was awesome to see and experience, but I will say the best way is if you could catch a stage or the rest day to get close to the action.
WAITING FOR THE DAKAR RIDERS TO ENTER INTO SANTIAGO
DAKAR!!!
CHASE VEHICLES, UGH YES PLEASE
NOAH'S OLD MAN CHASE VEHICLE.. HAHA
TIRES AND AN EXTRA BIKE JUST HANGING OUT IN THE BACK....
FIRST GUY SHOWING UP
THIS IS WHERE THEY PULL THE FRONT COWLING OFF AND TAKE THE GPS TRACKER AND EMERGENCY ALERT OFF OF THE BIKE
THIS DUDE IS MY HERO, BRETT CUMMINGS SOUTH AFRICAN, PRIVATEER TOP FINISHER FOR HIS SP CLASS WHICH IS THE CLASS WHERE U CANNOT CHANGE OUT PARTS IF THEY BREAK.. VERY NICE AND WAS ABLE TO CHAT FOR A SECOND
A FEW ZIPTIES HOLDING THE BIKE TOGETHER...
THE CHILEAN FAVORITE LOPEZ WHO GRABBED 3RD OVER ALL
HONDA FACTORY TEAM
JONNY CAMPBELL SUCH AN AWESOME GUY, EVEN TOOK TIME TO GIVE US A QUICK CHAT..
"Jonny How was it" "Terrible!!! hahaa with a smile, then he through his smile he whispered yeah it was painful" haha
HEADING TO HAND IN HIS TRACKER DEVICE
HAHAHA WHY? WHY WOULD YOU EVER......?? BAHAHAHAHAHA
ONE LAST SHOT OF JONNY
AWESOME
PODIUM DAY
OFFICERS THE THROTTLE STUCK WIDE OPEN AND WE WERE FORCED TO DO BURNOUTS AND WHEELIES.. HAHA
SMALL BADASS CAMPER
HAHAHAHA

I'll have to shoot Nic an e-mail to see how he's doing. Probably a serious change heading over there.

Figured any more plans out for you? Still coming back to the US to build a DR?

I wouldn't mind one for a trip bike, but there is just no way it would work for local riding.. If I do another trip it would likely be on a refreshed XRR again.

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I am headed to Patagonia on Weds morning for 1-2 months who knows, no plans... hahaha
No I am committed and invested with the KLR now.. He is going the distance.. I gave him a Badass Xmas present of new race-tech suspension front and back... Engine is feeling amazing.. I will pick up a bunch of new parts when I swing through LA in March and just fix "Animal" up to my likings.. Probably go back to a 685 kit.... but we will see. Come to the realization after talking to everyone that there is no perfect bike and that all bikes have trouble .. So I will build him up and shred the shit out of it..and never stop smiling and laughing... End of story...hahaha

DAY 446-453
1/21-27/2012
BAM BAM BAM!!!! Got my Letter today to go to the post office and pay for my package!! But it is to late to go now so I will go first thing in the morning then take the train right from their out to the Race Tech guy.
So in the morning we headed out to the post office, Ivan came to help me out. The person who sent the package told me they would not claim full price so I would not get taxed so much Well what they actually did, was claimed the package for only $20 value but then left the original invoice inside so when they opened the package to check it out they saw the invoice and taxed the hell out of me over 30% Hahaha but that is okay I got my package and it worked out perfectly that I had worked a lot over the weekend so Ivan could go to the beach so he had just given me a 100 dollar tip for helping out so that covered my taxes I was pumped at the end. I jumped on the train and made it out to the shop to find the place closed for lunch. So I just sat at the gate saying HOLA Ignacio the third time is the charm he came out smiling. I handed him the package and we went through it making sure everything was there. I then negotiated a good price with him for the rear Race-Tech shock he had at his work... then we put my new spring on it as well as the front new springs and valves. I headed back into town stopping by my friends house for a few hours before work.
Since Nick has been here I have been cooking up some good dinners. A guy Dani who is from Switzerland and is on a 09 KLR just riding through South America is finishing up his ride now and trying to sell the bike. He came over and we ate a massive Veggie Pasta Dinner.
Wednesday I went over to Macas house for dinner, I do not know about where you guys live but where I am from we do not have Sushi Delivery, especially sushi delivery via Motos!!! We were having a few beers and she suggested getting some Sushi yeah sounds good where do we have to go, how far is it, are the questions I asked She just looked at me and laughed... "No no we just order it and they deliver it". Sweet!! Thats new to me. Hahaha The sushi has been really really good and pretty damn cheap here in Santiago.
Thursday my friend Andrew from England showed up, he is doing a RTW as well. He started in UK and rode the West Coast of Africa to South Africa, and then he shipped to Argentina. We met in August in Salta; we will now ride together to Patagonia in the upcoming week or so. He arrived late to me making a massive amount of Burritos with some good ol Beer.
Friday I jumped on the back of Andrewss bike and headed to Ignacios shop and picked up my bike. Oh man let me tell you what a damn blast!!!! So so so much fun, it is running the best it has ever run since I have owned it super super stoked.
TONIGHT SATURDAY 26TH IS MY GOING AWAY BBQ.
I invited my friends, Nati, Maida, Maca, Dani, and a bunch others. My buddy David who you may remember I traveled with through Northern Argentina for three weeks on the shitty Chinese 200cc bike. He just finished 6 months over 21,000km on the bike through 4 countries.
He arrived at 6pm just in time for a few shots of Whiskey and then we all got together about 16+ of us at 8pm for a good night of food and booze. It was an awesome goodbye party, all good friends, 40 chorizos, 18lbs of steak, tons of beer, many bottles of rum, Pisco, and JW Black. We all hung out at the hostel till 2am drinking and then headed out to go dancing.
You know it is a good night when nobody remembers too much and someone passed out on the sidewalk. Then carried home by a girl to then be dragged up the stairs to his bed... It may or may not have been Andrew
I said Goodbye to Maca on Sunday Morning although I will see her again when I come back in a month or two before shipping to OZ. All day Sunday was packing, going through my crap, and just being hangover with everyone at the hostel. I walked Nick to the train station, his Latin American Ride is over and now he is onto NZ to work and ride. He left on the 27th of January and I met him one year ago in Panama. Hell of a dude and I wish him the best cannot wait to meet up again and ride with him in NZ or Oz in a year or so . You can follow his Adventure at www.roadtriprambling.tumblr.com
This has been an awesome time living in Santiago, working at the Hostel, making life long new friends, drinking way too much, and just enjoying every minute of it. I will miss this and all my new friends a lot; but on the contrary I am very ready to get on the road again!!! But it is nice to know I have friends and a great place to sleep when I come back to Santiago before I ship out to Australia.
NICK AND I AGREE "IF YOU DON'T LIKE WOLFMAN LUGGAGE, THAN F#$@ YOU!!!" HAHAHA JUST KIDDING
WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE ARE NOT MATURE!!! HAHA
NICK CLEANING HIS BIKE WITH A TOOTHBRUSH FOR NZ
WHEN LOOKING FOR BEER ON THE ROAD, I LOOK FOR THE CHEAPEST WITH THE HIGHEST ALCOHOL PERCENTAGE.. CHILE=DORADA
MAD GNARLY BIKER DUDES WITH WHISKEY!!! HAHAHAHA
ASADO
WINNING!!!!! MY NEW BEST FRIENDS IN SANTIAGO!!!! THANK YOU COUCHSURFERS!! HAHA
MORE NEW FRIENDS IN SANTIAGO
NO CLUE WHAT WERE DOING... THIS IS WHEN THINGS MAY HAVE STARTED TO GO DOWN HILL.. HAHA
NICK AND IVAN ON HIS WAY OUT TO THE AIRPORT TO CATCH A PLANE TO NZ!!
SEE YA SOON NICK IT HAS BEEN A FUCKING AWESOME EPIC ADVENTURE EVERYTIME WE GET TOGETHER .. CAN'T WAIT TO SHRED WITH YOU ON A DIFFERENT CONTINENT IN A YEAR OR SO..ENJOY NZ BROTHA!!!

LIFE IS GOOD BIKE IS READY TO SHRED.. AND WE ARE OFF SOUTH ANDREW AND I ON THE 30TH OF JANUARY!!! SUPER STOKED!!!! WILL MISS SANTIAGO BUT DEFIANTLY NEED TO GET RIDING AND CAMPING THROUGH PATAGONIA SO SO SO STOKED ON LIFE!!! BEST CHOICE I HAVE EVER MADE WAS TO SELLING EVERYTHING I OWN, QUIT MY JOB, AND JUST GO FOR IT!!!

Hey Fletch! How about putting a map of your travels, I think it would be very interesting to have a look at your route so far! I saw that Noah (RoninMoto) made one and it just kind of put everything into a broader perspective. Thanks and keep on RTW!